The 2024 crop year

[Garagista]

I also have a new planting of Zin by my house on the valley floor and it is soggy. I have never had to deal with such wet soil before. Zin is grafted to SO4 and that is a new rootstock for me also. I am expecting lush growth, or drowned vines.

I lived in SJ for 12 years and I did not experience this thing you called "soggy". I assume this is highly unusual?

 

[Snafflebit]

Wet is the new dry!

 

[Nebbiolo020]

I also have a new planting of Zin by my house on the valley floor and it is soggy. I have never had to deal with such wet soil before. Zin is grafted to SO4 and that is a new rootstock for me also. I am expecting lush growth, or drowned vines.

SO4 is a good vigorous rootstock, very rapid growth even when young I had vines make fruit the second year no matter how many times I removed it they really wanted to get going!

 

[tjmeyer]

I also have a new planting of Zin by my house on the valley floor and it is soggy. I have never had to deal with such wet soil before. Zin is grafted to SO4 and that is a new rootstock for me also. I am expecting lush growth, or drowned vines.

SO4 is the rootstock for you, then! It should be ok in soggy soil. If you don't have to water it, even better.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

SO4 is the rootstock for you, then! It should be ok in soggy soil. If you don't have to water it, even better.

SO4 tends to like dry soil it doesn’t like wet soils but it also suffers from sensitivity to magnesium deficiency

 

[tjmeyer]

SO4 tends to like dry soil it doesn’t like wet soils but it also suffers from sensitivity to magnesium deficiency

Interesting, I thought SO4 was average, at best, in dry soils.

edit: https://www.winegrowers.info/rootstocks/SO4.htm

 

[Nebbiolo020]

Interesting, I thought SO4 was average, at best, in dry soils.

edit: https://www.winegrowers.info/rootstocks/SO4.htm

No it likes dry meager soils it does well in sandy soils it’s okay with moderate wetness but it will rot and get crown galls easily in damp conditions this comes from experience with it I’ve had a lot of problems with it in regards to root rot in damp soils and disease and crown gall

 

[Snafflebit]

I expect that this soggy soil is temporary. I have dealt with crown gall on other rootstocks too. I have to deal with heavy clay soil here. I have had success with 1103P, disappointed in 1616C and now giving SO4 a try. I regularly ask growers about their selection of rootstock and rarely get a confident answer as to their selection. It is whatever the neighbor planted or what was available.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

I expect that this soggy soil is temporary. I have dealt with crown gall on other rootstocks too. I have to deal with heavy clay soil here. I have had success with 1103P, disappointed in 1616C and now giving SO4 a try. I regularly ask growers about their selection of rootstock and rarely get a confident answer as to their selection. It is whatever the neighbor planted or what was available.

For me, 1103p is the bulldozer of rootstocks it overcomes every obstacle you put in front of it it’s a workhorse alongside St George pretty bulletproof and 1103p is resistant to sharpshooters as well. I will add that overall the vines on SO4 have been more productive but that is expected as SO4 is super vigorous for the first 30 years of its life then slows a bit which is fine. It’s been a really good rootstock for Sauvignon Blanc and works good for Pinot as well. I also have 5BB kober for Malbec it’s a good rootstock when it’s not behaving weird it will produce good growth and my Malbec with produce great one year then low the next or might just produce vegetation without grapes it’s like the rootstock has multiple personality disorder sometimes kinda Russian roulette on what kind of year your going to have. But on a good year I’ll get Malbec with big fat clusters and brix up to 28 it’s crazy.

I also tried out riparia gloire only because I wanted to grow Carmenere as well as I like trying less common varietals out and that’s all I could obtain it on from the nursery that year and it has performed good better than expected vigorous and doesn’t seem to mind acidic salty soil.

The rootstock that the nursery put half my grapes on because they thought it would work at my location was a big failure, 101-14 I lost all but 3 vines planted on it had to replant 80% of my vineyard because of it they paid for it though. Went with SO4 and 1103p for everything afterwards. Out of the 3 surviving vines on 101-14 1 is the biggest best performing grapevine in my vineyard the singular surviving Fiano vine.

I also put in some blaufrankisch on a whim because I guessed it would do well here and am the only grower in the area I planted that on 3309c which is working out as well. Have narrowed it down to most rootstocks work well here but 101-14 1616c and 420a are bad picks.

 

[Garagista]

For me, 1103p is the bulldozer of rootstocks it overcomes every obstacle you put in front of it it’s a workhorse alongside St George pretty bulletproof and 1103p is resistant to sharpshooters as well. I will add that overall the vines on SO4 have been more productive but that is expected as SO4 is super vigorous for the first 30 years of its life then slows a bit which is fine. It’s been a really good rootstock for Sauvignon Blanc and works good for Pinot as well. I also have 5BB kober for Malbec it’s a good rootstock when it’s not behaving weird it will produce good growth and my Malbec with produce great one year then low the next or might just produce vegetation without grapes it’s like the rootstock has multiple personality disorder sometimes kinda Russian roulette on what kind of year your going to have. But on a good year I’ll get Malbec with big fat clusters and brix up to 28 it’s crazy.

I also tried out riparia gloire only because I wanted to grow Carmenere as well as I like trying less common varietals out and that’s all I could obtain it on from the nursery that year and it has performed good better than expected vigorous and doesn’t seem to mind acidic salty soil.

The rootstock that the nursery put half my grapes on because they thought it would work at my location was a big failure, 101-14 I lost all but 3 vines planted on it had to replant 80% of my vineyard because of it they paid for it though. Went with SO4 and 1103p for everything afterwards. Out of the 3 surviving vines on 101-14 1 is the biggest best performing grapevine in my vineyard the singular surviving Fiano vine.

I also put in some blaufrankisch on a whim because I guessed it would do well here and am the only grower in the area I planted that on 3309c which is working out as well. Have narrowed it down to most rootstocks work well here but 101-14 1616c and 420a are bad picks.

This post could win the world record for most useful information per square inch! Thanks for taking the time for this.

 

[Snafflebit]

I picked SO4 grafted to Zinfandel with hopes that the vigorous rootstock would help reduce millerandage on the clusters. I toyed with the idea of growing the Zin ownroot since it is a small planting and not commercial, but I finally chose this combination. I might plant a Zin cane somewhere in the vineyard just to see how it grows. Lodi has a handful of old ownroot vineyards, but I learned that the soil is sandy and that is probably helping their survival.

 

[tjmeyer]

Just got this forecast for today/tonight ... Pretty worried about this and right after bud break.

 

[Garagista]

Just got this forecast for today/tonight ... Pretty worried about this and right after bud break.
View attachment 111653

Hopefully it is too warm to stick to the buds.

 

[GSMChris]

Yikes!! Not what you want to see in the forecast just as buds emerge... Up here in Templeton, I am hoping the weather guys are right and it stays at 34 as the low.... fingers crossed for you (and me)

 

[Nebbiolo020]

Yikes!! Not what you want to see in the forecast just as buds emerge... Up here in Templeton, I am hoping the weather guys are right and it stays at 34 as the low.... fingers crossed for you (and me)

Yuck that’s cold, I’m just glad my minimum temp is like 40 at night and my vines are all past budbreak so it’s less risky the rain is annoying though.

 

[GSMChris]

Yuck that’s cold, I’m just glad my minimum temp is like 40 at night and my vines are all past budbreak so it’s less risky the rain is annoying though.

It’s just tonight - then we are climbing up to overnight lows of around 50 by the end of next week. Highs low 80s so I’m expecting a real push.

 

[Obbnw]

Just got this forecast for today/tonight ... Pretty worried about this and right after bud break.
View attachment 111653

That must be degrees C...

 

[tjmeyer]

That must be degrees C...

Yes, sorry. I find US-specific measurements a little weird and never use them, personally.

It's snowing now! Very odd start to a Southern CA April....

 

[Snafflebit]

Wow San Jose just got a frost warning tonight. Hope my buds survive!

 

[GSMChris]

Well, 32 degrees this am… started around 5 and will probably last until the sun comes up. Hopefully that’s not quite cold enough or long enough but I guess I’ll know in a couple of days….